Traitors' Bond
by theunknownvoice
Summary: She thought she understood all the Robins. Then she met him.


Traitors' Bond

By: theunknownvoice

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

It was a normal night in Gotham City for Cassandra Cain. She moved quick like a streak of darkness across the night's sky.

She was alone tonight. Tim hadn't been the same since Steph's death. He had taken back the mask and slipped back into the shadows. Work became his obsession after he lost his father. She tried to comfort him but he shoved her away preferring to handle the pain alone.

So it was Cass who went to Steph's grave bringing flowers. It was Cass who discovered the location of Steph's baby and went to visit the little girl. It was Cass who mourned and Cass who cried while Tim drowned himself in work and brooding.

Cass's tears fell in the dark of the cave. She sat near the monument to the fallen Robin and wept until her pain lessened. She watched while Tim fought off his inner demons and refused to mourn. Why didn't he understand that she was hurting too?

Barbara had said that the Robins were different—complicated. Cass had disagreed. Tim was an open book to her. She could read his every thought through his movements.

She could feel his anger and depression while he tackled the practice dummies. He was afraid. Afraid that he'd end up like Bruce, empty and alone. He didn't want to become Batman but his destiny stood in front of him like a beacon. Tim's life had become blurred. He couldn't decide which identity was more important. The lines between Tim Drake and Robin blurred and he found himself confused.

He wasn't sure of himself and he spent less time being a kid than being in the shadow of the Bat. Tim had tried to be normal only to discover that being part of the bat clan was so engraved in him that he couldn't escape it. Tim Drake was Robin. Cassandra Cain understood Tim Drake.

Nightwing hadn't been by lately. He and Oracle had had a fight over the future. The shouting match had gone on for three days and for the first time Cass found herself wondering why they kept trying. Barbara didn't want to get married but she had agreed to Dick's proposal and regardless if Dick admitted it he knew he wasn't ready to be married. Neither one of them had any idea how to cope with being married. Barbara had grown up with divorced parents and Dick had been raised by a bachelor.

Cass turned her thoughts back to Nightwing. He was so easy for her to understand. Dick wasn't as hard shelled as Bruce. He had his own issues but he wasn't obsessed with crime. He was an idealist. He had the simple belief that the world could be a better place.

Every flip he did, every punch, and every movement screamed to Cass that Dick was struggling to be his own person. Dick didn't want to become Batman. He wanted to forge his own identity separate from his mentor. His tentative smiles and laughs told her that he wanted to be—different.

She found herself being drawn to Dick when he was easy going. He had filled the spot as big brother. She could feel the father-son relationship between Bruce and Dick strain as Dick tried to push away all that being Robin meant. She understood that Bruce loved his Robins, his sons. He loved them but he hard time letting them leave the nest.

Cass flipped, rolled, and soared across the Gotham skyline. She moved so expertly that she could've been a shadow. Her eyes were alert scanning the ground below for crime.

She could hear the shadow of Oracle typing through the com. She had almost ripped the com out two days ago. Cass hated being treated as a child. She wasn't a child. She could beat Barbara in a fight. She could beat Batman in a fight. It wasn't fair that they gave Tim more freedom than they gave her.

Her eyes snapped towards something red moving across the skyline. She watched fascinated as she moved closer. It was moving quick, almost soaring, as it made leaps across the skyline. For a brief second see thought that it was Superboy or maybe even Superman. As she got closer though she noticed that it was a mask figure that she wasn't familiar with.

A red hood covered the face and she couldn't make out the eyes. By looking at the body she knew it was a man. She studied this new vigilante while he fought the thugs in the alleyway.

His body screamed that he was angry. Every flip and subtle movement spoke volumes to her. _Bastards—hurt—girl._ Her eyes turned to what was at the center of the fight. A young woman lay unconscious, her body badly beaten. Her clothes were torn and blood dripping down her hands.

Cass watched the woman's breathing. She was alive but Cass knew that if she moved the woman then she would make the injuries worse. Instead she bent over and stopped the bleeding.

As soon as the woman was made comfortable Cass' eyes automatically snapped back to the man. His fist slammed into a thug sending the other man spiraling into a wall.

Analyzing his movements told a lot but not nearly as much as she wanted to know. He had been trained to fight by several people. She could see the imprints of various fighters that she had met or seen training tapes of. He had blended their styles and added—she didn't know what to call it. There was control in his movements but also—recklessness?

Was that the right word? He didn't plan out his moves. Instead everything was done on instinct.

He was angry. Cass had never seen so much sheer anger and violence in a person. His anger drove him, consumed him, and made him strong. He used it to deeper the blows and harden himself to his enemies. He was fast too. Every movement was a part of him.

It reminded of her watching Dick and Tim train against each other. Every movement in that fight had been attuned and countered. It had been an elaborate dance full of patterns and the emotions of the dancers. It was one of the most beautiful things she had even seen.

She could say the same thing about the stranger's moves. He moved with a reckless grace. Maybe with more training he would be considered perfect but then he would loose the essence of who he was in his moves. He didn't follow a pattern. Everything was done in rushed movements with a known arrogance. His moves would hit the target in perfect precision and a measured force.

The imprints of his teachers were all visible. Bruce's training was evident in the stranger's movements. Bruce's training was in the way he dodged and kicked the thug across the face. She could the subtle influences.

She was puzzled. She knew Bruce had trained four Robins. This man didn't move like Dick. Dick was a natural acrobat and he never used this type of brutality in a fight. Then there was Tim but Tim was shorter. That left one answer but that didn't make sense. Jason was dead. He was dead just like Steph was dead.

The memory came slightly unbidden to her mind. She had been sneaking around the Bat Cave. Bruce didn't see her in the caves dark shadows. Something had been wrong she could feel it in the air. Bruce had been so different and Tim wasn't there. Steph was dead. So she just stayed in the shadows while Bruce gazed at the robin suit.

"_Do you want me to remove that, sir?" Alfred asked._

"_This doesn't change anything," Bruce whispered._

So this was Jason who Bruce thought Steph was so like. Cass didn't care how he was back. He puzzled her and for now that was good enough

She watched as he finished the fight. His eyes met hers as he pulled out a cell phone to call for an ambulance. She could hear him talk in clipped curt phrases to the 911 operator. She thought he would run into shadows but he just gazed at her.

"Let's talk."

He led her away from the battle scene. Blood was smearing on the concrete. It was then that she realizes how much excessive force he had used. A few simple moves would have put the thugs out of actions. He broke one of thug's legs, and another one's noise.

He enjoyed every minute of that fight as he ploughed into them sending them into nearby walls. He had enjoyed the pure violence that forced the abusers to stand in the place of the victims.

His body screams that he isn't above killing. She knows that he's taken life before in a cold calculated detached manner. His body hums with the desire to kill.

She _knows_ that's what he wanted to do. He wanted to stab them with that knife that in his side coat pocket or shoot them with the guns that had holstered close to his sides. He wanted to but he didn't. Something held him back and for a second she knows that it was her presence.

"You're the new batgirl," he says breaking the nothingness between them.

She just stares at him trying to figure out the puzzle that he is. They're on a rooftop at least a mile or two away from the crime scene. He pulls off the red hood and tosses it two the ground.

She looks him over. The red mask covers his eyes but she knows instinctively they're blue. His hair is the same unruly black as Dick's and Tim's. He's like them but his face hardened. It looks slightly older than nineteen.

Cautiously she pulls off her cowl. She watches his body change. He's surprised at how young she is.

"You were angry," she states.

He cocks his head and smirks.

"I'm always angry," he replies still smirking.

"Not now but you were early. You're angry a lot. You're angry with Batman."

His face tightened.

"He let me die."

"No."

"He didn't avenge me."

"He doesn't kill."

"You were friends with that girl Robin?" he asks avoiding her eyes.

Cass's face fell.

"I'm going to personally take care of the Black Mask"

"He killed her."

"I know. That's why he's my prime target. She's not going to be unavenged."

"Won't bring her back."

"No, but at least he won't have the opportunity to hurt someone else."

"That why you want to kill Joker?"

"I want to pay him back for what he did. I want him to know what it feels like to be beaten with a crowbar and then blown up. I want to do something Bruce could never do."

"Batman will stop."

He smirked widely. "I'm counting on it."

She watched him. His smirk didn't meet his eyes. It hurt to look at him. His body screamed anger, hatred, sadness, and—loneliness. He was lonely all by himself. He felt like the family had rejected him.

She moved before he noticed it. Her arms wrapped around him as she gave him a hug.

"Don't be sad," she said softly.

He wanted to lash out at her but he couldn't. He couldn't yell at her or tell her to go to hell. He had wanted someone to tell him they were glad he was back. He had wanted that but of course Bruce would never say that.

Finally she pulled back on her cowl and headed back into the shadows never once saying a word.

* * *

Batman paced the cave. The Red Hood had been cutting a bloody scathe through the Gotham underworld. It didn't matter that his victims were criminals. Murder is murder. It was unacceptable.

He had called in the entire bat family to help him stop Jason. Oracle was trying to pinpoint the Hood's base of operations. Nightwing and Robin were pouring over various case files while Batgirl watched the footage of the Hood's latest killing.

Cassandra cringed as she looked away from the tape. She could feel the conflict in the air. They were all putting on facades and their body language gave Cass insight.

Bruce was afraid for Jason. He wanted to stop him. He wanted to help him but he didn't know how he was going to accomplish this. Bruce had tried for years to separate his two identities and he done fairly well but he couldn't do that now. He had a responsibility towards Jason not only as a vigilante but as a former partner and parent. He had to stop him.

Nightwing was trying and failing not to think of the Hood as his brother. Jason had always made Dick laugh. As the Red Hood, he scared the hell out Dick. The Red Hood was dangerous. He knew how to kill and was an expert at psychological warfare. _He's using death as a weapon._

Robin was the most confused of the group. He had never met Jason. Jason had been dead by the time Tim became Robin. Still he wanted to know Jason. Jason was his brother but Jason had also beaten the shit out of him. It had taken Tim a month to be at full capacity after the beating in Titans Tower. Jason could've killed him. It would've been so easy to snap Tim's windpipe. Tim wanted to know why he was still alive. He needed to know why Jason had spared him at the last moment.

Cass began watching the tape again. It was a simple. The Red Hood just pulled out his two guns and did a flip. The shots hit their targets right in the head. It was execution style.

Cass swallows again as she watches. She wonders if he was smirking while he killed them.

* * *

They're on stakeout. Oracle hasn't been successful at locating the Hood's base. Cass isn't going to tell her that Jason's been living in Crime Alley. She even knows the number of his rental.

It doesn't take long for them to find the Red Hood. He's killed a drug dealer tonight. She can smell the acidity of the blood.

She wants him to stop. She wants him to stop killing but she knows he won't just as she knows that the others won't hurt him. She can see the fire burning in him as he backflips and trapezes across the night sky. She can see how much he loves a challenge as he flips and taunts them.

She could tackle him in one steady moment and the game would end. She could drag him home. She could break a few of his bones and stop him. Stop him until he's healed.

She doesn't want that though. She wants him to stop on his own. She wants him to come back on his own.

It's strange because she's come to care about Jason. He's striving for the same thing she was when she lived with her father. She wanted to make Kain proud just as Jason wants to make Bruce proud.

She watches and waits in the shadows. She watches Tim and Jason fight. Tim's learned some more moves but he doesn't cut loose like Jason does. Jason doesn't hold back on Tim. Instead he leaves Tim unconscious and bleeding.

She watches as Dick and Jason fight. She watches them strain. She can see in Jason's movements that he's trying to prove that he's the best. He fought hard against Dick and she was surprised to see Dick holding back. Dick leaves after a while hoping to escape one of them killing the other.

She watches as Bruce and Jason fight. She watches the battle between father and son. Jason doesn't want to commit patricide even though he tells himself he does. He wants Bruce's approval and every punch he throws is a sign of that. He's under the impression that Bruce doesn't care about him, that by letting his murderer go Bruce didn't care for him. Bruce stops the fight before he can finish it. He can't risk killing Jason.

The rest of the bat family is gone. They don't know what to do with Jason. He's one of their own and now he's gone rouge. It's funny that Bruce could make files on the JLA members and contingency plans if they went rouge but he couldn't do that for his Robins. Cass is sure there's a file on her but then again she's not Bruce's daughter like the Robins are his sons.

She comes out of the shadows. She could take him out in a few moves but she doesn't want to. Jason's staring out over the roof. He looks so lost that Cass feels a stab of pain. She can't leave him like this.

She rips off her mask and turns off the feed.

"What the hell are you doing Cass?" Oracle demands as she shuts off the com.

Slowly she approaches him. He's tired from fighting. She can see the exhaustion in the lines of his body. He tightens his muscles preparing to fight her but she only grabs his hand and leads him away from the rooftop making sure to attach both their tracers to stray cats.

She pulls him in the direction that she knows is his home. She's been tailing him for a week and she's already figured out where he's living. She worries about him being here alone in the falling apart rental while everyone else is comfort in the manor. The apartment that Bruce gave her was spacious and repaired.

Jason's walls are coming apart at the seams. She knows that he chose this place because the others won't look here. They won't think that he's hiding out in plain sight.

He's too exhausted both emotionally and physically to notice what she's doing. She makes him lie down and brings a basin of water. She washes his hands and face gently before attempting to peel off his mask. He grabs her hand to stop her.

"I want to see," she says finally.

He lets her go and she pulls gently. She stares into the fiery blue eyes. They are not like the others' eyes. Bruce's eyes are calculating. Dick's eyes are calm. Tim's eyes are full of intelligence. Jason's eyes are mixed with pain and laughter. It hurts to look at them for too long.

She cleans his face and then raids his fridge. He needs to eat. His body is tired and he isn't quick enough to duck every punch they threw. She lets him shower while she rummages through everything.

She can't cook very well. She likes helping Alfred in the kitchen but she's burned food so many times that it's become a running joke. She finds some oatmeal and scrambles over reading the directions. It's quick and relatively painless and it comes out alright. She puts some brown sugar on it and pours some milk over it

He eats without saying anything. She examines him closely. He's bruising in several places and he's been cut in a few. She gets the disinfectant and begins cleaning him up. He's in just his boxers laying on the bed eating the oatmeal staring off into space. His silence doesn't bother her as it would someone else.

His body is telling her that he's angry. He's angry that Bruce and the others didn't finish the fight. He wanted to prove he was better than them.

He isn't bothered by her. She can read that in his movements. She's just a surprise to him. He's wondering why she's doing this. He senses possible betrayal but realizes that she knew where he lived so she could've betrayed him before. He wonders if Bruce sent her to try to lure him back but discards that idea. Bruce wouldn't risk one of his protégées especially a protégée as talented as Batgirl. No, if they wanted to lure him back they would've sent Tim or Dick hoping that his brotherly connection to them would drag him back. What the hell is she doing here then?

He flinches as she cleans his wounds with alcohol. It burns like hell but her fingers are nimble as she bandages the wounds and checks for broken bones.

"Why do you give a damn?" he asks his eyes blazing.

She says nothing as she turns off the lights and crawls into bed next to him. She's unwilling to leave him alone. He spends enough time alone.

At first he's somewhat shocked—_what the hell is she doing_—but he's too tired to care. He's eyes close involuntarily and he dreams while she sleeps next to him.

He's awake first. She's curled into his side offering some form of comfort. He pulls out the knife from his coat which hanging over the bed's backboard. He waits for her to wake up. He doesn't know if she'll fight him or just leave him be but he wants answers. Her eyes flutter open. She sees him with the blade and her eyes don't even widen. It's like she expected him to try something like this.

"Wouldn't."

"Why not?"

"Don't want to hurt you."

"Like you could."

"Could and will."

He rolls his eyes but he's not willing to take her on.

"Don't like me?"

"Never said that."

"Then why?" she asks pointing to the knife.

"I can't trust anyone."

"Can trust me."

"I don't know that."

"Could've hurt you last. Could've forced you home. Could've called in backup but didn't. Took care of you. Stayed with you because you needed."

He doesn't say anything as he puts away the blade. He'll give her the benefit of the doubt but that doesn't mean he trusts her.

She gets up carefully and goes over to him. She checks his injuries again. He's doing better this morning. His bruises are starting to fade and his gashes are closing up.

She grabs her cowl and her costume. She slept in her undershirt last night. She needs to get back to her apartment. They already know that she didn't come home last night. She's sure that they do.

She can tell that Jason's going to change apartments. If she found him then Bruce and the others will find him soon enough.

He is about to open his mouth but she cuts him off.

"Cassandra and you're welcome."

* * *

She tries to enter her apartment without trouble. She just climbs in through the window sure that no one can see her from the outside.

She hears them before she sees them. They're all there waiting for her: Dick, Bruce, Tim, Barbara, and even Alfred.

It's Tim who runs over to her. He hasn't slept all night waiting for her to come back. At first he thought that something horrible had happened. Then Barbara told him about the com and the feed being shut off. He's angry and relieved at the same time. He can't afford to bury another person this year. He's already lost his Dad and Steph. He's not ready to add Cass to the list.

She hugs him carefully and smoothes his back to calm down his fears. She can feel the anger in the room as she moves away from Tim. She pulls off her cowl and turns to face the room.

"What were you thinking?" Barbara demands. "You pulled off the com. You could've been hurt."

Cass rolls her eyes. Unfortunately Bruce recognizes the look on her face. He remembers quite well a sixteen year old boy standing in front of him with the exact same expression.

"Where were you? We searched everywhere?" Barbara asks her voice softer.

Cass doesn't answer. She merely walks into her room and changes her clothes.

They all stare at her waiting for answers. When she comes back she doesn't say anything until Barbara speaks again.

"You can't patrol anymore. I'm not letting you be Batgirl."

"Do I always have to tell everything?" Cass retorts. "You treat me like a little kid."

"Cassandra, there are rules—"

"You're rules! Rules that you don't even follow! I don't ask you to explain everything you do."

"I'm the adult," Barbara said.

"Is Tim an adult?" Cass snapped back.

"Tim has to answer to me," Bruce said calmly, "as do you Cassandra. Where were you?"

Cass still doesn't answer.

"He didn't hurt you did he?" Tim asks.

Cass just shakes her head.

"Cass, why did you turn off the com and the feed?" Bruce asked.

"Don't like feed. Rather not have it."

"Then why did you shut off the com?" Bruce persists.

"Didn't want to be told what to do. Didn't want others ordering me home. Jason hurt. Couldn't leave him."

"Is Master Jason alright Miss Cassandra?" Alfred asked.

"He couldn't move after the fights. He was in—"

"Shock?" supplied Barbara.

Cass glares at her before nodding. "Couldn't leave him there. He would've stayed that way. Didn't want something to happen to him."

"You took care of him?" Barbara asks.

Cass nods.

"If you give us the location then we can—"

"No!"

"Cass—"

"No!"

"He's dangerous," Dick says calmly. "I know you like him Cass but he's dangerous. We just want to help him."

Cass looks him in the eyes. "You're brothers. You should know he smart enough to leave. He know you'll come looking for him."

"Cass, when you see him again, ask him why he's doing this," Dick said calmly.

"Know why."

The others stared at her somewhat shocked.

"He thinks no one cares. Thinks Tim take his spot. Thinks that Joker living means his dying not important. Thinks he's not loved, not wanted. Knows this hurts Bruce. Knows it makes Bruce angry. Thinks better to get an angry reaction than nothing."

* * *

It had been three days. Barbara had come alone this time. Cass could tell that Barbara thought she would tell.

"Cass if you tell me I'll help him. He can't keep doing this. He'll be killed."

"No, you're lying. You want to turn in over to the police. You want to lock him up. He's not crazy. He's hurt."

"What do you mean?"

"None of you care about him."

"That's not true."

"Then why don't you ask him to come home?"

"He's done too many things to rejoin the group. He might be able to come back if we help him. He needs to understand what he is doing is wrong."

"Nightwing was forgiven for Cinderblock and posing as Renegade."

"That's different."

"No, it's not."

"Cassandra, you can trust me. You can trust me to help him and what's best for him."

Cass cringes. "If it were just me, I trust you but it's not just me. Jason's secret. Up to Jason to ask you to help."

* * *

The fighting continues as the family tries to deal with the betrayal of one of their own. Most times it's Bruce who confronts Jason. Cass remerges as Batgirl and tries to reason with the Red Hood. But Jason just shrugs her off and refuses to listen to her.

None of them can stop him as he continues cutting a bloody scathe through Gotham. Then Crisis happens and everything falls apart.

Cassandra's world caves in. Kon dies. Tim mourns. Bludhaven is destroyed. She fights her mother. Batman, Robin, and Nightwing leave Gotham to travel the world. Oracle relocates. Jason is gone. He left Gotham and she doesn't know where he went.

Cass is alone, an outsider among her own family. She begs confronting Shiva again. Her mother is a strong fighter but Cass is better. She dies and Shiva resurrects her from the Lazarus pit. Cass then proceeds to kill her mother. The tears fly as the battle ends and Cass knows further taint.

After that she takes over the League of Assassins. She takes over and frames Tim for her murder. She pleads with him to join the league.

"We are the same," she tells him.

Tim refuses and once again she is alone.

She cares about all of the Bat family but their abandonment cut through her. They left her alone in Gotham with Barbara. They took Tim, her best friend. They left her and she was forced to deal with her demons alone. Dick wasn't there to act big brother. Tim wasn't there to be the friend. Bruce couldn't offer her advice. And Jason too abandoned her. He left Gotham and she didn't even have him to puzzle over.

* * *

Cass was pissed. Tim had refused her offer. She wanted some type of connection to her family but Tim had refused to become an assassin.

Just as he had refused her comfort years ago, Tim had refused to travel down the dark road with her. After Steph died they could have became lovers. They could've done so many things. She had thought out every possibility. She was willing to help Tim, to heal Tim, to love Tim, but Tim had refused that. And her heart still throbs from that pain.

It's been almost five months since she'd last been in Gotham. She's going under cover right now. She doesn't want Bruce to know she's here. She wants to find Tim and bring him to her. She wanted him to stay with her. They had been friends and she can see that Tim is suffering.

The losses have finally accumulated. The loss of Superboy was too grave for him to recover. Maybe she should've offered him the Lazarus pit. Maybe then Tim would have joined her.

She's changed. She's no longer mute Cassandra Cain, Batman's newest teammate. Instead she is Cassandra Cain leader of the League of Assassins. A woman who knows how to kill and isn't afraid to do so if necessary.

If she's completely honest with herself, she'll admit she wants to go home. She wants to go back to her apartment. She's wants to go back to being Barbara's Batgirl. She wants to come back to the family. But she's learning that the saying, "you can never go home again," is true. She can not go back to being that Cassandra Cain.

She's just walking along the sidewalk. She's alone for the first time. The others are in different locations. They know better than to betray her. She could kill them in a few minutes. She is the ultimate warrior, born and bred to be the perfect assassin.

She needed to come back to Gotham. Even if she doesn't see any of others, she needs to be near them. She should try to bring Tim into her group. Bring him there and make him her confidant because that's what she truly wants. She wants someone she can trust.

She sees him leaping over the rooftops. He's not the one she's been looking for but maybe it was better to talk to him. They are both outcasts. They both can help each other in more ways than one.

He's planning something and she follows him. She wants know what he's doing, needs to know what he's doing. Even if the others aren't talking to him he'll know what's going on. He's smart that way. Maybe he can tell her about Tim.

His body tenses and she knows he knows she's trailing him. He leads her to alley and watches her. She's changed in a year and so has he. He's heard all the rumors. Talia told him what little Cassandra's been up to.

"Embraced the less heroic side of life?" he sneers.

She gives him a cold look before hugging him. He stiffens slightly at her impulsiveness.

"They won't want me back," she whispers.

"We're in the same boat."

"I don't want to go back to the League. I don't belong there. I don't like to kill."

She grips him tighter and he just holds her. He can feel her body shudder. She could be lying to him but her eyes tell him she's not. She's afraid and she needs someplace safe. Why the hell did she choose to come to him?

* * *

They fake her death. They fake the entire set up. She pretends she's dead and hides away from the League and the Bat Clan.

She doesn't go back to the League. She chooses to leave knowing that they'll come after her. She wants to go back to the Bat Family and she knows that Jason does too. But they're both afraid.

Jason takes her to his new base. He doesn't completely trust her. Both of them have killed and have the sin of murder added to their long lists.

She stays with Jason. She stays with him because he understands what that you can't go back after you've taken a life. She takes care of his wounds and organizes his mess. She feeds him and talks to him.

He holds her when she needs holding. He tells about when he was Robin. She listens always interested not caring whether he's embellished or not.

She takes out the old Batgirl costume and she goes out. She starts patrolling. Sometimes she follows Jason to make sure he's alright. Other nights she goes solo. Still other nights she trails Tim or Bruce hoping to help them if they need her.

Every night she comes home. Tim's seen her and he's asked to her to come back. But she won't. She knows they won't understand what's happened to her. For better or worse she'll stay with Jason because he's come to mean safety and home to her.

It becomes their ritual to take care of each other. He washes her face, and checks for injuries. She does the same for him. They both curl up with each other in the bed they share. Sleep is a welcome relief.

Her feelings for him change. At first she treated him they way she would all the others. She soothed his nightmares, she took care of him, and she became his friend. After a while she doesn't feel that way anymore.

Her heart bangs when he enters the room. His nightmares become her own. When he smiles or laughs or gives her that smirk, she becomes ridiculously happy. She cuddles further into him while they sleep. She worries about him constantly while their patrolling. She's afraid for him.

He notices that she isn't sleeping as much as she used to. At first he thinks that something happened on a patrol. They move a lot in hopes of keeping the League and Bruce confused. He's afraid they'll find them and take her away from him.

He knows now that he's a target for police. He knows that people are looking for him. He puts her at risk every time he goes out. He sees two options. 1. He goes back to the Bruce or one of his so-called brothers and begs them to help him. They might not take him back but he knows they'll take Cass back. 2. He leaves her behind and goes someplace else. At least then she won't have to worry about his enemies as well as her own.

He doesn't want to follow through with either of these choices. His pride won't let him go back to Bruce. He can't do that. He can't admit that he might've been wrong.

He doesn't want to leave her either. She's already in danger. Even though he knows she can protect herself he feels that he helps keep safe.

Plus there's the fact that she makes him happy. She doesn't judge him and he doesn't judge her. He still can remember the time he introduced her to chili dogs. She looked at him like he was crazy while he ate two of them in a few bites. She tried them and then told him point blank she liked them better than his smoking.

Every time he woke up with her cuddled into him he was happy. Lately, his thoughts about her had become a lot less innocent. He used to think her just another kid but he's been looking at her the same way a starving man looks at food. He wants her. He wants her and he loves her. He's not felt that way about anyone.

He's prior relationships have been a series of one-night stands. He was never interested in commitment or monogamy. He had seen her fight and now he wanted to know what she could do to him. He bets she's violent and knows he better stop thinking about it while she's lying next to him. His shorts are becoming a little too tight for comfort.

It was too close tonight. Deathstroke has been hired by the newest crime-lord wantabee. Deathstroke is dangerous business. Last time the only reason he survived was because Bruce bailed him out. He can't count on Bruce to do that again.

Cass isn't afraid of Deathstroke. She could knock the guy's lights out. Jason wasn't going to drag her into this fight. It was bad enough she had to be put at risk because of his other problems but this one belonged to him alone.

He waited until she was asleep to get his things and leave. All he needed were a few clothes, and his weapons. It's all too easy to sneak out the door as long as he doesn't look at her.

His bike takes him to the docks. He's going to call Bruce from there and then go back to New York. It will be fun to drive Dick crazy. It will make him forget about Cassandra for a while. He's about to call Bruce on his cell phone and tell him where Cass is at when he's knocked to the ground.

She's standing over him with the most pissed off expression on her face. She had thought he had gone to the bathroom or to go work on something. He does that quite a bit. He wakes up in the middle of the night and goes off. It was when he didn't come back or at least call her to tell her where he was going that she started to panic. It didn't take her long to find him. She knows him better than anyone else on the planet.

"Why are leaving me?" she asks her face hard.

"It's not safe."

"Don't you like me? Don't you care about me?"

"That's why I'm leaving."

"No!"

"Cass, it's safer this way. Go back home before they won't take you back."

She doesn't say anything as she pulls him up. Her lips met his forcefully. His eyes widen as she forces his mouth open with her tongue. She pulls him closer runs her hands down his chest. His tongue rushes through her mouth tasting her, sucking on her, and fusing with her.

She stops her eyes reading his. She doesn't say anything as she drags him home. She takes him to their room and slammed the door behind them. The next few hours are spent proving exactly what she feels about him.

They lay there sweat covered and content. This is insane. The both were former bats. In fact in most people's eyes they should be like brother and sister. Instead they lay as two lovers completely content with each.

Carefully she rolled over her lips meeting his again with the same passion as before. She wants to be part of him. She wants that bond that they say soul mates have. She doesn't believe in such things but the romantic side of her brain tells her that they are tied together now. Tied by links stronger than blood. She sleeps on his chest his heartbeat a gentle lullaby.

* * *

They deal with the oncoming challenges of their lives. Bruce comes to help Jason with Deathstroke. Tim still tries to convince Cass to come home. None of the others know the truth behind Jason and Cassandra's relationship. In fact they don't even think the pair work together.

Cass has stopped wearing the Batgirl costume. She had to stop training once her body started to change. She's happy. She makes Jason train harder. She tells him what he's doing wrong in his moves and works with him. It became part of their routine. It was the only normal thing they had anymore. She shouldn't have been surprised when she felt her body change.

She loves him and he loves her. She loves and she knows that she will give them what they both want: a family. She knows but she also knows Jason will want to run. Jason wants to make her safe but she refuses to leave him especially now.

* * *

She hadn't wanted to come here. She hadn't wanted to come but she did. It was not for her sake but for his.

"Miss Cassandra," Alfred says slightly shocked.

She knows they didn't expect her to come here. They probably thought she had left Gotham when she disappeared three months ago. The League still thinks her dead but that's only because they have a corpse that looks like her. It's only a matter of time before the truth comes out and Cass will have to fight.

For now she feels like an outsider standing on the steps of Wayne Manor. Alfred ushers her in and rushes off to get Bruce and Tim. She waits the heat of the building warming her body.

She can hear Tim's gentle footsteps before she sees him. She can feel in the vibrations that Tim's surprised. Tim's missed her. Tim realizes now how much he needs her. But it's too late. She loves Jason and she wouldn't leave him even if Tim offered her the world.

Her eyes meet his. She sees the shock written in his expression as he looks her over. She knew this was how he would react.

When Bruce enters the room she pivots reflexively. He stands near Tim and the two of them face her.

"Are you in—"

She cuts Tim off with a vivid shake of the head.

"Did someone in the League?" Tim gestures at her.

Again she shakes her head.

"Cass if you need money or—"

"I'm happy Tim," she says softly. "I know you have questions and that you're hurt but it's not what you think. I came to talk to Bruce."

Tim just looks at the two of them before leaving the room.

"Are you in trouble, Cassandra?" Bruce asks.

"Not the type of trouble you are thinking of. I didn't come for me though. I came for Jason," she replies.

His eyes show her that he's comprehended the situation. "You and Jason?"

She nods before continuing, "I'm not asking you to let him keep killing. I just want you to let him know he can come back to the family. Let him know that you'll help him if he's or his family is in danger."

Bruce didn't say anything to this but Cass knows that he'll do what he asks. Jason is his son and now Cass is his daughter if only because she's with Jason.

Cass didn't wait for a response. She walks out of Wayne Manor. She didn't bother to turn around or see the expressions on everyone's faces.

She can hear Barbara's wheelchair and Dick Grayson's breathing. Barbara wants to talk to her but Cass has nothing to say. She's done what she came to do.

"Do you love him?"

She freezes in midstep at Tim's question. Only Bruce knows that she's with Jason. She can hear the requirement for response from Barbara and Dick. They want to know the entire story. They want to know where's been and who's she with. They want to know but they didn't want to ask.

Bruce's eyse are boring into the back of her head. They're waiting and she knows that she wants to respond. They need to understand now because when they find out--and she has no doubts that they will find out--her response will be in the back of their minds. They will judge her and Jason but if she answers now then they'll know. They'll that she loves him, that she'd die for him, that in a short time he has become her lover, her bestfriend, her family, and her everything.

The word flows off her lips carefully, "Yes."

* * *

She shouldn't be surprised by now. When he thinks he smokes. She hates it but he's been smoking since he was eleven years old and he's not about to stop now. She doesn't understand what the cigarettes do for him but then again there's a lot things she doesn't understand about Jason. She may know him better than anyone else on the planet but he's still a mystery to her. She likes it that way.

She feels his blue eyes bore into her. Their laughing slightly but she can see that he's worried. He stamps out the cigarette the minute he sees her.

She walks over to him and let him hold her. She needs to know he's there as much as he needs to know she's there. They've both had the childhoods from hell. They've both died and been ressurected. Sometimes she thinks its a dream and a nightmare. He's the dream and their problems are the nightmare. But she knows he's there. She knows he's real.

He pulls her closer not letting go. For once the world just stopped and she knows no matter what happened it would be alright. It doesn't matter if Bruce doesn't let them back into the Bat Family. It doesn't matter because they--the traitors--have each other.

The End


End file.
